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Honors in Major Study Guidelines
  • The student must meet GPA and credit guidelines for Honors in Major Study listed in the Faculty Code (see below).  Any deviation from these guidelines must be approved by the Board of Review.
  • In consultation with his/her major adviser (or committee in the case of Individually Planned majors), the student must put together a written proposal with a suggested length of about 2 pages with an accompanying selected bibliography.
  • This proposal, together with an official Application for Honors in Major Study cover sheet (available on the Web or from the Registrar’s Office), must be submitted to the major Department for consideration by the end of the 6th week of classes of the semester prior to registration in Honors Thesis (the same as the deadline for Application for Degree Candidacy).
  • After a proposal has been approved by the Departmental faculty, the completed cover sheets must be forwarded to the Registrar’s Office prior to November 1 (for Spring Semester theses) or April 15 (for Fall semester theses) so that the student may be registered for the course during registration for the upcoming semester.
  • The student will not be registered for the class automatically.  It is his/her responsibility to add in accordance with the regular academic calendar.  However, if at some time during the semester of registration in Honors Thesis, the student decides not to pursue this option, or perhaps does not satisfy the requirements (see below), registration will be changed to the regular thesis or independent study course depending upon departmental options. 

The Faculty Code (Article VII) states:

Section 1. Honors in Major

a.      A student who shows unusual ability in the field of his or her major may be granted permission to work for honors in major during the last two semesters in residence before his or her graduation and with the privilege of doing preliminary planning on the project or thesis during the junior year.

b.       Honors shall be awarded to students at the time of their graduation.

1.      The proposal, bearing the approval of the department (or departments, or combined majors, or major committee, for individually planned majors) must be filed with the Registrar within the first 6 weeks of the 2-semester period in which a student is eligible for such candidacy.

2.     The application must include a brief description of the student's honors thesis project.

c.       To be eligible for such candidacy the student shall have completed not fewer than 87 semester credits, shall have completed at least 2 semesters of residence in Whitman College, and shall have attained a grade point average of at least 3.100.

d.      In order to be eligible to receive honors in major the candidate shall meet the following requirements:

1.      He or she shall have attained at the time of the student's graduation a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.300 and a grade point average of at least 3.500 in the major or in each part of the combined major;

2.      He or she shall have completed and have earned a grade of at least A- on a written thesis or research project prepared exclusively for the satisfaction of this program;

3.     He or she shall file two acceptable copies of this thesis or report of the research project in the college library not later than 2 weeks prior to the beginning of the final examination period in his or her last semester (except that the student may be required to comply with departmental regulations for earlier filing);

4.      The student shall earn the grade of "Passed with Distinction" on the senior assessments in his or her major and he or she shall earn a grade of at least A- (3.700) in the honors thesis course.

e.      The major adviser shall attest the satisfactory completion of requirements for the awarding of honors in major.

1.       A candidate for honors in major who fails to attain such honors shall be permitted to graduate without honors, providing that all college requirements for graduation have been satisfactorily met.

2.      Students enrolled in senior honors thesis who fail to attain honors will receive credit for senior thesis (or, if their department does not offers a senior thesis, independent study), provided they have completed the thesis with a passing grade.

Within the first six weeks of the two semester period (the two semesters of the senior year) in which the student is eligible for such candidacy, an application for admission to candidacy for honors in major study must be signed by the supervising professor and submitted to the department (or departments for combined majors, or major committee for individually planned majors).  Following departmental approval, a copy of this form will be filed with the Registrar’s Office.  No student may register for honors thesis unless this form is on file with the Registrar.

To be eligible for candidacy, a student must have completed at least 87 semester credits, and have completed at least two semesters of residence at Whitman College.

To receive Honors in Major Study, a student must graduate with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.300, a major GPA of at least 3.500, receive a grade of A- or better for the thesis, and earn a Distinction on the comprehensive examination.  In addition, the student must file an acceptable copy of this thesis to the College Library no later than the published deadline.